AccuWeather.com

By Brian Edwards, Meteorologist

Aug 31, 2011; 7:45 PM ET

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While much of the mid-Atlantic and New England continue to suffer from residual flooding and power outages in the wake of Irene, a new hurricane has developed in the Atlantic.

Katia (pronounced KAH-tyah according to the National Hurricane Center) reached hurricane strength late Wednesday.

The hurricane is moving over very warm sea surface temperatures and into an area with weaker winds aloft. These factors will allow Katia to continue strengthening, potentially into a major hurricane by the upcoming weekend as it passes north of the Lesser Antilles.

So, the big question becomes where is Katia headed and will it have an impact on the U.S.?

All times EDT

Possible Track Scenarios

Katia will continue on a west-northwest track around an area of high pressure over the Atlantic through the weekend. This should take the storm north of the Leeward Islands, which is good news for a region that was hit hard by heavy rain and flooding with Irene.

Residents of the Leeward Islands, Turks and Caicos and Bahamas are urged to keep an eye on this developing system and potential shifts in the forecast track. Even though we are expecting the storm to miss these islands at the present time, the potential is still there for some impact this weekend and beyond.

Beyond the weekend, Katia is expected to continue on a west-northwest track into the southwestern Atlantic before taking a northerly turn.

Smerbeck states that "Any system that moves north of the Bahamas should get picked up and sent out to sea as a continuous stream of upper-level troughs move through the northern part of the U.S. in the coming weeks."

While the forecast is for Katia eventually to turn and head northward and potentially out to sea, it is certainly possible that the storm brings some impacts to the East Coast or Atlantic Canada later next week.

Expert Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck warns "If one of these upper troughs or dips in the jet stream digs further into the Midwest, then that could favor a more westerly track for Katia bringing it closer to the East coast."

Such a track would raise the risk of landfall in Atlantic Canada.

Another factor to keep an eye on is the likelihood for a tropical system to develop in the Gulf of Mexico this week as Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski pointed out.

Should a tropical system organize in the Gulf, it could completely alter the upper-level pattern, thereby, changing the course of Katia in the long term.

"It is often a delicate balance. If one tropical system or surrounding system gets stronger or weakens more than expected, it can really throw a monkey wrench into the whole works," Sosnowski said.

Therefore, there are many factors that could ultimately contribute to the future track of Katia. In any case, residents from the East Coast through the Caribbean are urged to keep an eye on the storm over the coming two weeks. Keep checking back with AccuWeather.com and expertise from Chief Hurricane Coordinator Dan Kottlowski and the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center.